On December 13th, the Utah Gymnastics roster of 2025 came out and performed for the first time at the Jon M. Huntsman Center, showing the spectators who had filled their stadiums the new skills and tricks. But one special thing really caught the eyes of the fans. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the sport in Red Rocks, they organized a special live piano performance by Toby Scott, who played it alongside their 13-beam appearances.

He also gave a special performance for the closing floor routine of the evening, which was done by Jaylene Gilstrap. It was a beautiful rendition of a Billy Joel tune, which the crowd seemed to enjoy immensely as they cheered on Jaylene, who also gave a brilliant performance. Thus, the fans loved the whole event, which was very much visible through their reactions on social media.

On December 14th, Utah Gymnastics put up a post on Instagram with a carousel of photos and a video of the performance showcasing how beautiful the whole event really was. The caption of the post said, “A routine we’ll never forget! 🎹 Huge thanks to @toby_scott_ for bringing his incredible talent to last night’s meet & adding some magic to Jaylene’s floor routine—Special nod to @BillyJoel! ✨” Their acknowledgment of the fact that the performance was made better by the piano is what made fans praise the person in comments.

Many fans loved the elegance that the performance brought and how it looked really beautiful when coupled with Jaylene Gilstrap’s elegant floor routine. Some suggested that this should become the norm in every single gymnastics meet. Thus, the whole thing became a huge hit, a consensus shared by the college staff too.

Speaking about the event, head coach Carly Dockendorf said, “That was a pretty magical night,” she said. “We showed 43 routines tonight, which is more than we did last year; we had 38 last year that went. We got to show some of our depth; I was so proud of our freshmen. Tonight, it’s intimidating to step in here; you can compete at all your club meets your whole life, but to step in this arena knowing everyone cares about you so much and cares about this program so much is a different kind of pressure.”

The entire event by Utah Gymnastics was thus a great preview for the upcoming season. It was also well-liked by the fans and the audience, thus earning its desired outcome.

Gymnastics Community reacts to Utah’s performance glowingly

Most of the gymnastics community adored Utah’s performance. The team brought the beauty of the sport back to the light with the brilliant piano performance and their routines. The presence of the piano also elevated the performances to the next level. This is why many in the comments wanted it to be a permanent fixture. “Loved it! And let’s lobby for live piano every meet! Loved it too!”

Of course, most gymnastics meets already have music during their routines, but it’s mostly pre-recorded tracks that are played in the background. If this is suddenly swapped for live music, it would certainly add another edge to the whole atmosphere, making it quite an incredible experience. This can be vouched for using this show itself, as fans seemed to have fallen completely in love with the whole piano performance.

If it happens again, they’ll probably have the same reaction. “This is genuinely the coolest thing I’ve seen,” said one fan. Many others expressed the same sentiment about how much they enjoyed the show, as the gymnastics extravaganza caught their eye. This included the new roster too, which had performed exceptionally well.

One of these included Avery Neff, a new recruit who gave a brilliant performance for the audience as she stuck a 10.0-Yurchenko 1.5 on the vault, showcasing to every fan why she’s one to look out for. Her performance added well to what was already a special night for the college. “This is so awesome !!” said one fan, talking about the event. Another fan also spoke about how beautiful everything in the event was, saying, “Absolutely beautiful!”

However, in the end, most of the gymnastics community did rave mainly about the piano performance and the floor routine by Jaylene Gilstrap. Gilstrap, who will start her fifth year in Utah, is one of the most senior members of the team and is thus quite valued. She showed her value in the meet on Friday when she performed her brilliant floor routine, which was so beautiful that it caught everyone’s attention. “Iconic!! Jaylene and @toby_scott_, you stole the show.”Performing the routine on the Billy Joel song, she showed the audience the elegance of the whole routine, which is why everyone loved it. Hopefully, Utah and her could capture this magic in their regular season and prove to be a great team.